ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December

3,

1981

BLAKE

WATER

CORPO

PCB

81~-137

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent0

)

OPINION AND ORDER

OF

THE

BOARD

(by

J~

Anderson):

This matter comes before the

Board on the petition

for

variance of the Blake Water Corp0

(Blake)

filed

September

3,

1981

as

amended

September 24,

1981~ Blake

seeks variance

from the 2,0

mg/I

fluoride

concentration

limit of Rule 304(B)(4) of

Chapter

6:

Public Water Supplies0

On September

3,

1981,

the Illinois

Environmental

Protection

Agency

(Agency)

recommended

that

variance

be

granted0

Hearing

was

waived

and

none

has

been

held0

The Blake Water Corp0

serves

53

residential

users

in

the

Windcrest

Subdivision,

Cedar Township,

Knox County, which

is about

3½

miles

south

of

Gaiesburg0

Blake~ssingle

520

feet

deep

well.

provides

water

with

fluoride

concentrations

rangIng

from

2~O rag/i

to

4~3

mg/i,

averaging

30i

mg/I0

Blake

believes

that

any

new

well

drilled

in

the

area

wot~ld

supply

water

containing

fluoride

in the same concentration0

slake

believes

its most feasible compliance option would be

fluoride

removal

by the activated alumina adsorption

process0

Equipment

installation

is

anticipated to cost $60,000, with

additional

yearly revenue of $9,000 required to finance the capital

costs

and

operational expenses0

This

would mean an increase in

monthly

user

charges

of

$33~00~

Finally,

both

Blake and the Agency

assert that grant of

variance

at these fluoride

levels will not adversely affect

the

health of Blake’s users0

The

Board

finds

that

the

Village has demonstrated

that

immediate

compliance

would

impose an

arbitrary

and

unreasonable

hardship

on its

water

users0

This

is

particularly

the

case,

since

a

February

1980 Agency letter

to Blake indicates

that

other

prob-

lems

may still exist which are immediately threatening

to health,

and

which

should

be

corrected

if Blake

has not already

done so~

44~i71

---

The

Agency acknowledges that

this

petition falls in line

with recent

cases

in

which

the

Board

has

granted

5 year variances

to small

municipalities,

hut believes variance can be recommended

only through January

1,

1984, the current deadline for exemptions

under Section

1416 of

the Safe Drinking Water Act,

42

U.s.c.

300(g)—5.

For

the

reasons stated in previous opinions, consistent

with §1415

of the SDWA which has no

deadline, the Board grants

variance

for a five year

period,

subject

to the conditions out-

lined

in

the attached Order~

(See Ci~yofMinonk,

PCB 80—136,

October

2,

1980,

and cases

cited therein at p~ 3..)

This Opinion constitutes

the

Board~sfindings of fact and

conclusions of

law in

this matter.

ORDER

1.

Petitioner,

the

Blake

Water

Corp.,

is granted a five

year variance

from the

2.0

mg/i maximum fluoride concentration

standard of

Rule

304(B)(4)

of Chapter

6:

Public Water Supplies.

subject to

the

following conditions~

a.

Beginning

on

or

about

June

1,

1982,

and at

six

month

intervals

thereafter,

the

Petitioner

shall

communicate

with

the

Agency

in

order

to

ascertain

whether

fluoride removal

techniques

specifically

applicable

tc small

systems

have

been

developed

and

identified.

As

expeditiously

after

such

identification

as

is

practicab:Le,

Petitioner

shall

submit

to

the

Agency

a

program

(with increments of

progress)

for

bringing its

system into

compliance

with

fluoride

standards.

b0

Petitioner

shall

take

all

reasonable

measures

with

its

exist:Lnq

equ~praent to

minimize

the

level

of

fluoride

in

its

water

supply

and

shall

not

allow

the

fluoride

concentration to exceed 4.0 mg/i,

c,

Pursuant

to

Rule

313(D)(l)

of

Chapter

6,

on

or

before

January

30,

1982

and

every

three

months

thereafter

Petitioner

will

send to each user

of its

public

water supply a written

notice

to the effect

that

Petitioner has been granted by the

Pollution

Control

Board

a variance from

the 2.0 mg/l maximum

fluoride

standard,

The notice

shall state the average

content

of

fluoride in

samples taken since the last

notice

period during

which samples were

taken.

2.

Within forty~fivedays of

the date

of

this Order,

Petitioner shall

execute

and forward to the Illinois Environmental

Protection Agency,

PWS

Enforcement Programs,

2200 Churchill Road,

Springfield,

Illinois

62706,

a Certificate of Acceptance and

Agreement to

be hound to

all terms

and conditions of this variance,

This forty—five

day peried shall

he

held

in

abeyance

for any period

this matter

is being appealed.

The

form

of

the certificate

shall

be as follows:

44~i72

---

3

CERTIFICATION

I,

(We),

,

said Order,

By:

Title

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, Christan L.

Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, her~ycertify tha~the above Opinion and Order was

adopted o~the

~

day of

~

,

1981 by

a

vote of

-~

—O

Illinois Pollution

Board

44—173